Why Silicon Valley isn’t boomer-friendly

By Matthew Heimer

Reuters

Can you spot the middle-aged guy?

On a day when Apple’s latest earnings report seemed to underscore the technology world’s economic dominance, a job in engineering or software development may sound like a ticket to late-career job security. But tech entrepreneur and academic Vivek Wadhwa, in an essay recently published on the Wall Street Journal’s “Accelerators” blog and circulating more widely this week on LinkedIn, is bursting that bubble. As in other industries, he writes, there’s no reason for an employer to pay a six-figure salary to a middle-aged, only-average achiever “when it can hire a fresh graduate — who has no skills — for around $60,000.” Wadhwa’s advice to the graying gearhead: Diversify your experience into management, marketing, and other branches of your business; keep your skills current; and consider becoming, say, an entrepreneur. (Like Vivek Wadhwa.)

About Encore

Encore looks at the changing nature of retirement, from new rules and guidelines for financial security to the shifting identities, needs and priorities of people saving for and living in retirement. Our lead blogger is editor Matthew Heimer, and frequent contributors include editor Amy Hoak, writer Catey Hill, and MarketWatch columnists Elizabeth O’Brien, Robert Powell and Andrea Coombes. Encore also features regular commentary from The Wall Street Journal retirement columnists Glenn Ruffenach and Anne Tergesen and the Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Alicia H. Munnell.